The Dempsey Startup Competition (Dempsey Startup), organized by the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship, provides a real-world experience for student entrepreneurs, promoting student ideas and new venture creation to the entrepreneurial community. Participating in the Dempsey Startup gives students practice in the dynamics of venture creation by developing an idea, putting together a founding team, writing a business plan, and presenting to investors. In fact, many ideas that started as a class project turned into a start-up company through the competition process! The Dempsey Startup Competition is open to undergrads and grad students at accredited colleges and universities across the Cascadia Corridor – Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia, as well as Alaska.

• 26 years of the Business Plan Competition/Dempsey Startup
• $1.79 million in prize money awarded to 218 student companies
• 6,100+ student participants
• 1,935 teams have entered since 1998
• 350+ entrepreneurs and investors who took part in the 2022 competition as judges, advisers, and mentors

The application site will open for submissions on Thursday, February 21, 2025 and will be due by 11:59pm on Monday, April 7. The competition begins with the initial online Screening Round between April 10-15, 2025.

There are four competitive elimination rounds (and one non-competitive round) between April 1 – May 22, 2025. The Buerk Center will schedule information sessions, workshops, and office hours with mentors to help participating student teams prepare for each round!